sanford



2 Sheets-Sheet 1.

(No Model.)

G. SANFORD.

APPARATUS FOR REDUCING FIBROUS PLANTS. No. 265,153.

Patented Sept. 26, 1882.

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(No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet 2.

G. SANFORD.

APPARATUS FOR REDUCING FIBROUS PLANTS. No. 265,153. 'Petented Sept. 26, 1882.

i'g'yi UNIT D STATES PATENT O FICE.

GELSTON SANFORD, OF BROOKLYN, ASSIGNOR TO W. M. SAFFORD AND THE SANFORD UNIVERSAL FIBRE COMPANY, BOTH OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

APPARATUS FOR REDUCING FlBROUS PLANTS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 265,153, dated September 26, 1882,

Application filed November 4, 1881. Renewed July 19, 1882. (No model) To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, GELs'roN SANFORD, of Brooklyn, in the county of Kings and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Apparatus for Reducing Fibrous Plants, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates generally to the treatment of the leaves, stalks, and other parts of fiber-bearing plants to free from them feculaceous and all other non-fibrous matters; but, my invention is more particularly intended for.

the treatment of the leaves of plants of the Agave family.

15. The invention consists in a machine com greater in one direction than the other-whereby the materials which are inserted between the cylinder and the bed on one side are moved forward slowly over the bed at the same time that they are rubbed, and finally delivered on 2 5 the opposite side from that on which they are fed in. The bed should be yielding, and may be composed of a number of strips or pieces supported at their ends on elastic supports. The cylinder is placed slightly eccentric to 0 the bed, so as to leave a wider space between the cylinder and bed on the entrance side than on the delivery side; and the invention further consists in the combination, with the bed and cylinder, of mechanism, hereinafter de- 3 5 scribed, for imparting the desired motion to the cylinder.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 represents a side view of a machine embodying my invention. Fig.2 represents a plan 4,0 thereof, and Fig. 3 represents a vertical sec tion of the machine.

Similar letters of reference designate corresponding parts in all the figures.

Adesignates the frame-work of the machine,

a and B designates a tank arranged therein.

the cylinder is adapted to rotate in bearings a, and these hearings are held down in suitable housingsorframes,b,bymeansofrubber blocks 0 or other springs,which are adjusted by means of setscrews d to exert more or less downward pressure on the bearings.

D designates the bed, of semicircular or are shape, here represented as composed of longitudinal fluted or grooved sections or bars supported at the ends upon rubber flanges or strapse, which may be inserted in semicircu- 6o lar grooves in the ends of the tank B. This construction enables the bed to yield downward, while the cylinder may yield upward; but the cylinder might be mounted in fixed bearings, or the bed may be fixed.

E designates a feed-table arranged on one side of the cylinder, and, as clearly represented,

the cylinder is arranged slightly eccentric to the bed, so that a somewhat wider space will be left between the bed and the cylinder on the side adjacent to the fecdtable than on the opposite side.

F designates a spungear wheel fixed upon the shaft G of the cylinder, and f designates a pinion engaging with the wheel F, and fixed upon a shaft, f, which is supported in bearings in the ends of the arms G, loosely fitting on and depending from the cylinder-shaft G. On the same shaft,f,with the pinionf is fixed a wheel, H, as best seen in Fig. 2.

I designates a driving-shaft, which may be rotated by a belt passing over fast and loose pulleys I 1 and l designates a crank fixed on the end of said shaft, and carrying a long crank-pin, 9.

Motion is imparted from the crank-pin g to the shaftf by means of three pitlnan rods or bars, J, connected together by apin, h, as seen in Fig. 2, and on said pin his loosely mounted a gear-wheel, K,which'gears with a pinion, c, fixed on the crank-pin g, and with the wheel H. As the crank l is rotated the arms G are swung back and forth on the shaft 0, carrying with them the shaftf, with the pinionf and wheel H, and as the connected pitman- 5 rods J move they carry with them the wheel K. Rotary motion is constantly transmitted from the pinion 2' through the several wheels and pinions to the cylinder; but the cylinder will be rotated alternately in opposite directions. When the pinion f, however, is moved bodily in one direction its rotary motion will accelerate the cylinder, and when moved in the reverse direction its rotary motion will retard the cylinder, and the cylinder will have a r0- tary or reciprocating motion alternately in opposite directions; but as the movement is greater in one direction the cylinder will have a progressive movement, which will carry the materials forward between the cylinder and bed, and finally deliver them on the delivery side of the machine. With the gearing here shown the cylinder would havea forward movement of about fifteen inches and a reverse movementof about twelve inches, thus giving a progressive movement to the materials being operated on of about three inches at each turn of the crank 1 Where the bed D is made of sections, as here represented,space is afforded between the sections for the extraneous matters separated by the rubbing to pass through; or the bed might be perforated for a like purpose. v j 1 The materials to be treated are fed into the 7 machine transversely to their length-that is,

they are introduced lengthwise ofthe cylinder-and all vthe rubbing is done in a direction transverse to their length.

When the machine is used for producing fiber from leaves and plants in a green state I prefer to have water running in'the tank, as

it greatly assists the cleaning operation by washing out everything injurious to the fiber, leaving it soft and pliable.

My improved machine is equally advantageousforsofteninghemp,jute,andotherfibrous materials in a dry state/ What I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. In a machine for obtaining fiber, the combination of asemicircular or arc-shaped bed, and a cylinder arranged adjacent thereto and having a progressive alternate rotary motion, substantially as specified.

2. In a machine for obtaining fiber, the combination of a semicircular or arc-shaped bed composed of bars or sections and yielding supports therefor, and a cylinder arranged adjacent to the bed and having a progressive alternate rotary motion, substantially as specified.

3. In a machine for obtaining fiber, the combination of a semicircular or arc-shaped bed, D, a cylinder, 0, arranged adjacent thereto, and having a gear-wheel, F, upon its shaft, the oscillating arms Gr, the shaftf, journaled therein, and carrying the pinion f and wheel H, the crank l and crank-pin g, the pinion t on said pin, and the pitman-rods J and wheel K, substantially as specified.

- GELSTON SANFORD. Witnesses:

FREDK. HAYNES, En. MORAN. 

